“The Aaronic Blessing,” Num. 6:22-27; Part #2

“The LORD bless thee, and keep thee…” v.24

Israel is still at Mt. Sinai, they have not broken camp yet, and God gives Moses some special instructions for the priests that will endue the people with power for prosperity, success, longevity, fruitfulness and protection. Then Moses instructs Aaron and his sons to ‘Bless’ the children of Israel. This blessing is more than a wish, more than a prayer, its like a promise, a pledge, a vow, an oath, a command, a guarantee based on God’s word and His name! The command to the priests to pronounce the blessing was equivalent to the promise of God to bestow that blessing!

In English the words in the Bible sometimes don’t always carry the same meaning or emphasis that the original words do in the Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic. So, sometimes we might miss a slight edge of the original meaning. For instance, the words ‘bless and  keep’ are kind of abstract words in English, not specific enough, a little vague! However, the ancient Hebrew people were concrete thinkers and related all things to concrete ideas. Paleo-Hebrew, or Ancient-Hebrew was a ‘picto-graphic’ alphabet because they were an oral people, each letter looked like the word it represented.

The Hebrew word for “Bless” (barak) literally means, “to kneel, to bend the knee. A ‘berakah‘ is a blessing, but more literally, it is the bringing of a gift to another on a bended “knee.” So, when we bless God, or another person, we are in essence bringing a gift on “bended knees.” A true king is one who serves his people, one who will humble himself and come to his people on a bended knee. Think of Matt. 2:11, when the wise-men, the kings of the east, found Jesus did they stand or fall on their knees? Did they come with empty hands or bearing gifts?

The Hebrew word for keep is (shamar) which means, to guard, secure, or preserve. A related word is (shamiyr) which means ‘thorn.’ When a shepherd was out in the wilderness with his flock he would build a corral of thorn bushes. Some thorns were 2″ in length, to protect his sheep from predators, thus guarding and protecting (shamar) standing over his sheep and lambs.

Now the first phrase of this blessing comes into focus, “The LORD will kneel before you with gifts and guard you with a hedge of protection.” You also note the word “LORD” all capitol letters for “JeHoVaH or YaHWeH” is used in vv. 24, 25, 26. You only need it once, but you have it three times; First – to emphasize that He is the source of every good and perfect gift. Jam. 1:17; Second – unless such a repetition had been designed to secure some important truth, a single mention of the ‘Sacred Name‘ would have been sufficient. But the object obviously was to impress belief in the ‘Divine Unity’ upon an entire people. This significant repetition did its work in the minds and hearts of the people of Israel.

Note if you will, that in each verse in the K.J.V. the old English word “thee” which is the singular ‘you’ is found twice, giving us a beautiful truth found only in the K.J.V. Matthew Henry comments on this truth, “We may take the blessing to ourselves, (individually) as if our names were inserted.” Think about it, the LORD our God, the Creator of everything seen and unseen, seeks to bless His people and especially, “YOU!” “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights with Whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning.” Everything that comes your way, “EVERYTHING” is handed to you by the ‘Nail Scared Hand’ and one day, very soon all in Christ will enjoy the splendor and the glory of His face, and today is a good day! “The LORD bless thee, and keep thee…” Till next time, we will see you…   “…Between The Lines…”

“The Aaronic Blessing” – Num. 6:22-27 (Part #2 – v.24) 1/29/14